Rebecca King-Crews, wife of Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews, has been married to the actor for over 36 years.
Rebecca, 60, is a singer, and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015.
The singer has only now however, joined in an appearance on the Today show by her celebrity husband, spoken out about this and revealed her battle with the neurological disorder.
Parkinson’s can present in many varying ways, however in the now 60-year-old’s case this was mistaken for ‘anxiety’ and her health issues were dismissed.
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The American mom-of-five is now speaking out after going through a new procedure which has had a hugely beneficial effect on her life.
Describing her initial symptoms, Rebecca stated that she had suffered from numbness in her left foot, adding: “My trainer noticed that my arm did not swing… I woke up one morning and my hand was shaking.”
She added that she recognised it as a tremor because her grandmother had this symptom, adding: “I went to the doctor and he told me, ‘oh you’re having anxiety, you’ll be fine’.
“It’s not uncommon for us ladies for someone to call everything stress.”
Rebecca asked for a referral despite his claim it was 'just anxiety' and explained that it took her a further three years to get a diagnosis. When asked about the diagnosis Terry Crews, who is now best known for his acting and hosting career after five years in the NFL, spoke about her previous battles with cancer.
He said of his reaction to her diagnosis: “I knew she was a superhero and she had already went through cancer and defeated it. 100% cancer free.
“I said: ‘This is why you get married’. My thing is, when they say ‘in sickness and in health’, this is the battle that we were designed to fight together.
“Where she’s weak, I’m strong. Where I’m weak, she’s strong. We built each other up like that for almost 37 years, and all the way to forever. That’s how we’re doing it.”
Rebecca suffered with her condition for years, however decided to speak out over a groundbreaking new procedure she got.
Speaking about the process of recovery, she said she was able to write with her right hand for the first time in three years.
She added: “I'm still in recovery, this is three months of recovery. As you recover, you see improvement. I'm still figuring [out her new life post-procedure] to be honest because part of the procedure is to improve the symptom.
“So you improve it on one side and not the other, so it can make you feel a little more aware of the other. However, each day that I do things, I'm aware of the benefit so I am looking forward to doing the other side of the body."
She is set to get a second procedure which will aid the left side of her body in September of this year.
When asked about why she’s coming forward now she said: "I don't believe in telling my story so you can know my story and feel sorry for me.
“I really believe that this procedure and others like it are the new frontier of medicine. They were able to go into my brain without cutting me open.
"It's non-invasive. This focused ultrasound is used to treat many other types of tumours, and cancers without the risk of bleeding without the risk of dying in surgery, so I'm excited about the possibility.
“Then, I felt that I wanted to potentially make it more available to others because it's an expensive surgery that's not covered yet."
She stated she wanted to give hope to people with Parkinson’s disease because she believes ‘we’re going to find a cure’.
Michael Slavin